Saturday, May 31, 2008

I'm going to start with turbo pumps and then add roughing pumps later. I'm going to add some compression ratio numbers which will determine final pressure. Plus prices for pumps and controllers if I can find them.

I think a supply in the 15KV to 30KV range with an available current of 30 mA would be good for general purpose experimentation and neutron generation. It should be adjustable, regulated, and current limited. It should be immune to the usual lab accidents such as shorts and current bursts. It should have an emergency fast trip.

Sunday, May 25, 2008

Joseph Zambelli has built a fusor. He starts out with a very nice picture of his device.

This Inertial Electrostatic Confinement Fusion (IECF) fast neutron generator is a complete, easy-to-operate tabletop system. As presently configured, it produces up to 6.75E5 2.5 MeV neutrons per second with an acceleration voltage of 42 KV and a current of 18mA, at a pressure of 11.5 mTorr, with a start-up time of 10 minutes or less. It can easily be upgraded to yield even higher neutron production rates if so desired. This design has extremely low operational costs, and requires only a single 120V outlet for power. It features an 8” UHV Stainless Steel spherical, multi-port chamber evacuated with turbo-drag and rotary backing pumps.

He has another picture and link page here. The link page has links to the following the following sections:

Thursday, May 15, 2008

In Picture Of WB-7 Bussard Fusion Test Reactor Available I reported that there was a picture of the WB-7 Fusion Test Reactor available. (Well duh). I must sadly report that it is no longer available. Instead EMC2 Fusion has replaced it with a picture of a plasma test of the fusion reactor using Helium gas. Yeah! We are another small step on the way to fusion power. Or to proving you can't get there from here. Depending.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

It is very difficult to achieve field strength approximately 50-100 kV/cm without causing arcing.The maximum field strength is governed by the Paschen curve.

So let us look at what a decelerator BFR might look like. Reaction volume 1 meter radius. That is a given. Let us assume 200 KV drive voltage. If we assume a voltage of 20KV/cm that gives 10 cm to zero voltage. Then assume 2 MV decelerator voltage. That is 1 meter. So the total radius is 2.1 meter. At 40" per meter (roughly) That is 84" radius or 168" diameter. About 14 ft in diameter for a 100 MWth reactor. Suppose we go to 40KV/cm (about the limit). That would be 1 meter reaction space. About 5 cm to zero voltage. And 50 cm for the decelerator. That would be 1.55 m radius. 3.1 m diameter. About 124" or a little over 10 ft in diameter. So odds are the reactor will be between 10 ft and 15 ft in diameter for a design with direct energy conversion. That would fit on all but the smallest ships.

The lead Bussard Fusion Reactor (BFR) experimenter, rnebel, has read that article and has chimed in here with his thoughts.

One of the things we have been considering is selling a "turnkey" version of the WB-7. In this case we would design, build, license and deliver an operating Polywell, probably on the scale of the present machine. Operator training and tech support would also be part of the deal. The model is to use a plug and play concept where the user could substitute their own parts (electron sources, for instance) in an open architecture system. This is similar to what IBM did with the PC in the early 80s. It would give people who are interested in Polywells a chance to develop their own new patentable concepts and new companies without having to go through the entire learning curve that we have been on for the past several years. This struck us as a way to jumpstart the industry and get a lot of new ideas and people involved in Polywells. These devices could be funded through government grants (we have found a mechanism) or privately. I think we could do a turnkey machine for a ~ $500k-$1000k depending on how many people are interested. The idea would be for the government to make grants to institutions and then we would be able to competitively bid on providing the hardware. Ideally, I would like to see at least one Polywell in every Congressional district in the US. Since the cost is cheap, this is a tractable. Is this something you might be interested in?

My reply went as follows:

Sign me up.

I think it might also be useful to do a $10K to $100K fusor type device for those on a more limited budget. Jr. Colleges etc. There is a lot that can be learned from such a device that would help with more efficient (Pollywell) devices.

BTW in other places (fusor forum) I have made the evolution of the computer hobby argument.

Great minds etc.

Also a range of devices and power supplies. i.e. 25KV, 50KV and 100KV pulsed supplies. Then the same range of continuous operation supplies. Same for the reactors. Pulsed and continuous operation. The equipment should be standardized as much as possible - at least for the starter kits so we could get the efficiencies of mass production. Also standardized test equipment. Standardized control.

If we had 435 tests going on at once in each district that would cause the Congress critters to all get behind the fusion push. Very astute. That was sort of my idea.

Again - contact me and tell me how I can help. I'm rarin' to go.

Simon

Any venture capital people who would like to start something - contact me.

It is getting to the point that to make advances in the field of IEC Fusion collaborative efforts will be required due to the range of knowledge required and the cost. The individual with the home built fusor is not a thing of the past by any means, but it is not the wave of the future. I have been contacted by people from Jr. Colleges who are interested in doing fusion research so that is probably the place to go. Get your local Jr. College or College interested.

I'm going to add a list of Colleges and Universities that are working on small fusion (budgets under $100,000 - places like The University of Wisconsin at Madison which has a rather well funded IEC program - well above $100,000 - will not be on the list). If you get something going in your home town send me some info. I'll add you to the list.

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Richard Nebel tells about plans for commercializing the Bussard Fusion Reactor (BFR) at Talk Polywell. Richard starts off discussing who owns the BFR technology and patents. DOD is The Department of Defense. Currently the US Navy is funding the research.

...EMC2 owns the patents and the commercialization rights. DOD retains the right to use the technology free of charge. That's a pretty standard arrangement.

As for DOD taking control of the technology, I think that's pretty unlikely. The most similar parallel to this that I can think of was the development of fission power. Both nuclear fission propulsion and commercial power were developed in parallel. It isn't a coincidence that both systems are LWRs. I expect a similar situation here. Everyone that I have talked to at the DOD understands that energy supply is a major national security issue. It's not in the national interest of the US to keep this technology from going commercial. Furthermore, this project has never been classified. Fusion research world-wide was declassified in 1958 by international treaty.

Finally, I appreciate your concern about research being slowed down by the lack of dialogue. My previous research at LANL (POPS for instance) was always public domain. The reason we did it that way is because we figured that the patents would run out before we could commercialize it and the benefits of having it critiqued outweighed the drawbacks of getting "scooped". I still feel that way, but I have a little different responsibilities at EMC2. We have a responsibility to get this technology developed in a timely manner and I also have a responsibility to look after the interests of our employees and the corporation.

From the way he is talking he seems pretty confidant of success. I sure hope he is right. Dr. Nebel also reports that the EMC2 contract with the Navy runs through August. So that gives some idea of when we might know the answer.

Saturday, May 3, 2008

Here is a progress report from MSNBC's Cosmic Log about the status of the Bussard Fusion Experiment, WB-7.

Currently, the most promising path toward electrostatic fusion runs through Santa Fe, N.M., where a team at EMC2 Fusion Development Corp. is currently trying to validate Bussard's results. The team's leader, Richard Nebel, told me this week that it's still too early to gauge how promising the Bussard fusion device could be.

The side bar here has links to various discussion groups. They can be found under the heading Working Groups. You might be especially interested in the Talk Polywell discussion group where Richard Nebel can often be found commenting and answering questions.

Friday, May 2, 2008

Tom has graciously provided a pdf of his most recent Analog article The World’s Simplest Fusion Reactor Revisited for your edification and enjoyment. Please read the following and then click on the link provided for your own copy. Tom sends his regards to all. Enjoy!

Copyright 2007, 2008, by Tom Ligon. This article was first published in the January- February 2008 edition of Analog Science Fiction and Fact. Special edition with postscript for iecfusiontech.blogspot.com and fusor.net. This document may be downloaded, printed out, or linked from other sites, but please do not re-post it on other websites, or re-publish it, without the author’s permission. If corrections or updates are needed, I’d like a limited number of copies to track down.